French POW dio WIP **update: 2/26/09 pg 11**

Ian- I think I might try a dot method to a small section. I thought Doog brought up that the dull coating is what gave the oils some "teeth" to get grabbed by, but I'll go back to those dot posts to be sure. By the way, that goose looks just amazing, sorry I haven't chinmed in on your post yet. I'll be there soon.

Bodge- deepest thanks for your compliments.

Manny- much thanks, and good points. I just assumed the "graying" was sun bleach, and wouldn't affect the interior wood. I'll go back in and age up the insides a bit. As for the greens, I've been wondering if I should approach those shades with a drybrushing, or a filter. I'm leaning towards filter, because that might seem less like a highlight, and more like a growth.

Cool, thanks again guys. Just the type of feedback I'm looking for. 

Steve

Steve, you really nailed it as far as I'm concerned---just beautiful.  A few nitpic suggestions:

* In my experience, the inside of the barn would also have that "greyish" look to the wood as well...I spent summers in rural Georgia as a kid and many hours in barns like this. Maybe not AS DISTRESSED, but the wood inside of your barn looks decades fresher than the outside wood.

* Ian makes a good point about breaking up the pattern a bit...I wouldn't drive myself crazy over it, as in making every board unique, but it might be wortwhile to lighten a few boards here and there and darken a few as well (maybe even replicate some repairs with newer looking boards or boards that are painted)...Also, in your ref pic you can see a greenish stain on some of the boards...this is caused by small plant-life in moist areas (mildew or lichen, perhaps) growing on the wood---I often saw it on the base of barns and it extended up in random spots from a few inches to maybe a couple of feet---very subtle though...and sometimes moss as well.  

Having wrote all that---if you did nothing else to this it would still be outstanding in every way!

Thnx, Ian. Yeah, you're right. I need to get some different shades of brown, gray, light green even. I was toying with the idea of going the oil dot method on this, after dull coating, to put some subtle variations in there. You think that might work? I'm too lazy to experiment

Steve

Hey gang...

I've spent a week, hours here and there, trying to get this barn painted up. I started with burnt umber / black mixture, and steadily brought it up to a distressed gray  for extrerior, and aged / stained interior. From air brush to drybrush. Then, I gloss coated it, and washed with burnt umber, both inside and out. Followed that with a very light, light-gray drybrushing.

Still has it's glossy luster in many spots, but this, of course, will be dulled back down. I wanted to get some opinions on the progress before I sealed up this layer of paint. Pin washes, spot-aging, and pastel dusting (interior, exterior rusting) will follow the dull coat. Let me know what you think...

Exterior reference shot...

Mine...

A shot for Jim Barton (thanks for the inspiration, Jim )

Interior...

Plenty more shots here, if you're not completely bored by now...

I'm the slowest dioramist on this forum. Guys like Bodge (who rendered half of the Normany countryside in a week) leave me in the dust. But thanks for looking in, and I welcome all critique.

Steve

SteveM wrote:

But then I thought, "why would he cover the cart, instead of just getting up there and patching the roof?"

Jim, I think you're right about the lack of lack of shingles I wondered about that midway through, and blew it off, and now I'm wonderin'. Maybe I can go back and abuse a few.

My original thought was to have a bald patch on the roof right above where the cart will be sitting,. Then place a water-stained tarp covering the cart. But then I thought, "why would he cover the cart, instead of just getting up there and patching the roof?"

However, I can go back over the shingles with a dremel and weather-battle them up a bit. Good suggestion, thanks for the input!

Steve

If I were building this, I definitely would've done the shingles during my recovery period from my hernia operation. That would've helped pass the time!

The shingles look great, but I was thinking that for an old, weathered barn that's been battling the elements, at least a few of them should be broken off or missing. Storms over the years would cause damage to them. Just a little food for thought.

All told, that's a fantastic barn! You can almost smell the decades of manure, hay, oil, mud, dust and so forth. If you can work up the courage to bring it to Phoenix, you should display it at the IPMS Nationals in 2010 (along with the doog's "Lair of the Rust Bunnies.") I'll be there; it's just a five mile drive from my house!

Thanks for that name, Vespa. I looked up Alan Wolfson. That is some mind blowing work.

Ian- you been holding out on me??? You have a barn and you haven't sent me reference pictures? Oh, man!

Update: remade the interior ladder, as the initial one looked like it was from a doll house collection IMO. Also put on the 2nd floor ventilation window-door-cover thingie, with latch and hinges.

Steve

Keep it coming Steve. Another amazing interior modeller is Alan Wolfson. His period is very much the 1970s NYC, but great details and may serve as inspiration nonetheless.

 http://www.alanwolfson.net/

Hey Manny- thanks for continuing to drop in here, and for the encouragement and painting inspiration.
My plan was to leave both interior and exterior natural wood, with the outside much more weathered down to a brownish gray (save for a few newer planks that have been replaced). However, been toying with the "painted" notion, and have looked up Doog's hairspray toot as reference. Might come down to flipping a coin.

Bodge and Doog- thank you very much for your compliments! I appreciate that you guys continue to check in here. You both have, IMHO, an exceptional eye for detail, so please chime in if you see anything that could be added or corrected. Doog, I simply adore the Charger you built. I want to drive away in it.

Vespa- the Realism King!  Thank you for your encouragement, and the names that you throw out there. I have looked up both Chuck Doan and Ken Hamilton and, I've gotta say, their work has truly inspired me. Loads to learn from them, and I really want to thank you for turning me on to those guys.

I am doing some last minute touch-ups, and the very small detail work, that I've been saving for the dinal stge before painting the barn. Stuff that I knew I would break or simply wouldn't survive while handling.

Sure, one could say that I was putting of the inevitable, and possibly detrimental, paint job. I wouldn't deny that. For me, breaking out the airbrush still involves a certain amount of... shall we say, psyching myself up? Me and the compressor are gonna have us a little team huddle.

"Burnt Umber on 3... ready?... break!!"

Steve

Sheeesh, man--that looks freakin' AMAZING!

Just superb!!!!!!

Ive been watching this oneand wow you are both massivly talented and patient,some of the best work ive seen on scratchbuilding, AAAAAAAA++++++++++++

wow 

Simply outstanding...the tiles almost have that "pebbly" quality to them that roofing shingles have today---they look great, very uniform...I am begining to envision this puppy being painted in a whitewash and then hevuily distressed, with flaking, peeling and fading going on, and lotsa bare wood showing through...One question though, from what I know of barns, the inside was not typically painted nearly as often as the outside, correct? Have you decided how you are going to finish the wood yet???

"I should note, though, that I am not building this barn to pay back a debt."--LOL !!!

Ever have one of those times when, you get to the end of a process within a project and think to yourself, "Wow! I really enjoyed that part of the build. I wish I wasn't done, so I can do it some more!".

This wasn't one of those times. I am so glad I am done with the roof, I feel like crying. I still might.

Seriously, I am happy with the roof; more so than I would be, trying cut and fit the Custom Dioramics (or Construction Battalion- I get them cornfused sometimes) single resin piece that I original bought for this. These are "slate tiles" from Hudson & Allen. However they are, from what I can tell, cardboard. Pretty cool, but they all had some ugly flash, a leftover from the factory cutting process, which needed to have a quick trim with a #11, or they wouldn't line up very well. That is where it got to be a bit of a PITA. But, I ain't complaining.

Here was my process...

Glue the first tile in the row down solidly. Pencil in a reference line, from one side to the other, for keeping the row aligned, and then "paint" the pencil reference with carpenter's glue:

Lay tiles in place with dental pick:

Keep it level along the way:

Make permanent with CA.

Here's a peak under the roof, at the rafter detail I tried to give:

Coated with Dull Coat, and will give second layer of protection with dilluted white glue, so the tiles don't warp when painted- being all cardboard and all. The finished roof:

Close up of the sheet metal crest covering (thin craft tin):

Shot for scale, with my knock-around fig:

Now, it's time to paint this beast. Tomorrow, tho. Tonight I am gonna sit back and enjoy being done with this part.

All critique welcome. I should note, though, that I am not building this barn to pay back a debt

Steve 

Hey Doog- I'm simply bowled over by your compliments . Coming from a true Model Master. Yeah, I agree... I've been fighting the urge to blast throught is, because I can always tell later on. Like NucMedTech stated, there is always the Alamo Squadron show, San Antonio, in February.

But I wanna show some'ting ???

I appreciate your encouragement to write this up and submit it. I just don't know where to begin. I'll see how the whole dio turns out, and then consider doing it. It would be awesome to join the ranks of the likes of you and wbill76.

NucMedTech- Thanks so much for looking in, and for your kind words. I'm really looking forward to the Austin show next weekend. I'll be there (1 mile from my house), in the ball cap and glasses, annoyingly combing over every single item on every single table. Been brutal waiting out the postponement I might touch up my Patton figure and show it. No contest winner, but it'll be an excuse to bring more money, if I have to stick around til the very end

Thanks again, ya'll. Now, back to laying rows and rows of slate shingles (Self-torture, but I think it'll be worth it).

Steve

Steve,

   An amazing job on your barn!! I would not rush it for the contest either. I would have liked to seen it up close (but not compete against it, LOL). If your still going to the show, don't they have a table for display only? If you want to risk transporting it I'm sure it would be a big hit. If not there is always the show in San Antonio in Feb. Anyways if I don't see the model hopefully I'll get to meet the man himself!

-Stephen

the doog wrote:

Steve, please don't rush this to get ready for any "deadline"!!! There will always be another contest--but this is pure Art, plain and simple! This is truly, the absolute pinnacle of what modeling "is", and "should " be!  Amazing! Stupendous! Phenomenal! I run out of superlatives;--it's that good! I would highly recommend, and beg you,--for the sake of any modelers not currently on this site or following this thread--to write up this build as an article ad submit it for publication to Finescale Modeler magazine. People should see ths genuine masterpiece! My highest commendations!

AND...

Steve, please don't rush this to get ready for any "deadline"!!!

There will always be another contest--but this is pure Art, plain and simple! This is truly, the absolute pinnacle of what modeling "is", and "should " be! 

Amazing!

Stupendous!

Phenomenal!

I run out of superlatives;--it's that good!

I would highly recommend, and beg you,--for the sake of any modelers not currently on this site or following this thread--to write up this build as an article ad submit it for publication to Finescale Modeler magazine. People should see ths genuine masterpiece!

My highest commendations!

SteveM wrote:

Manny- thanks a million for the compliments, and those pictures absolutely ROCK. Love the grenadier with the bino. And I like the placement of the two wine bottles. Very Austin Powers LOL! Yes, I most certainly do need advice. One question I have about the thinner and shoe polish tricks (excellent and time saving!): Will / won't the thinner highlight the massive amount of glue blobs that are everywhere on this barn? I have glued the s*** out of it in some places, because I knew I'd be handling it plenty. I just figured I'd paint it the beast. Although, I am afraid of my painting skills enough to consider other options. cassibill- thanks for all the input you've provided. As a matter of fact, I had planned on fashioning a European barn owl nest up at the top, above the window. Funny you should mention... :) Steve

Hmmmmm...great point...I understand your concern; I have run into that problem as well: the stain will not reach the wood as the glue will act as a clear sealer...might just want to experiment on scraps first...

Another alternative is to have your barn painted, and distress the finish VERY heavily... 

One of the things I am so impressed with is how real everything is placed (workbench, shelves, etc.)..Often, when someone attempts this kind of scene, many items seem "forced" or are out of place (because the builder fudged on realism for the sake of stuffing as much into the scene as possible)...this is one of the best minature interiors I HAVE EVER seen...

As if you need any advice: I often find the best way to get unfinished wood looking like old and weathered wood is to simply brush very dirty paint thinner onto it...wan't sure what you had in mind but that has worked for me...

...to get a varnished floor, I have used brown paste shoe polish: dab it on and rub as much off as you can with an old t-shirt or cotton sock (then sand lightly to get worn areas)...  

Some examples (sorry, when i took these the wood wasn't the highlight of the pic):

This one has had shoe polish applied, then sanded to give a very worn look: